CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Public Health released data that shows that widely available COVID-19 treatments have helped to avert approximately 8,600 hospitalizations in the last four months. The announcement comes as 68 counties in Illinois are at an elevated level for COVID-19 and IDPH is strongly urging all who are eligible to take advantage of the new, updated booster shots that are now available.
“The therapeutic treatments that are available for COVID-19 work,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “The data from Illinois that IDPH released today show just how effective these treatments can be at protecting people who contract COVID-19 from being hospitalized and severe outcomes.”
The CDC authorized two new bivalent booster vaccines on September 2 that include an mRNA component of the original strain to provide an immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19 and an added mRNA component in common between the omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant.
The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older.
The updated boosters are available at pharmacies, hospitals, and other healthcare providers. The best way to locate a vaccine provider near you is to go to www.vaccines.gov and search for bivalent booster availability.
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